


Memoirs of a Milkovich

by orphan_account



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Fluff, M/M, Mickey is married, Reunions, Slow Burn, Smut, post 7x11
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-22
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 05:10:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9864287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After becoming a free man, Mickey moves back to Chicago and writes a tell all book about his childhood, discovering his sexuality, his relationship with Ian, prison, and being a fugitive on the run. Mickey is reconnected with his past in more than one way while trying maintain his marriage and being a father.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a slow burn fic, and while there is some Mickey x OC husband stuff going on, just remember this is a gallavich fic.

The sun was shining through the windows that lined the halls of Mickey’s publishing agents building, the scent of fresh coffee filled his nose from the cup firmly grasped in his hand because at 8 am there was nothing Mickey needed more than a steaming, 8 ounce cup of sugary coffee to keep him awake and ready to deal with whatever bullshit was about to get thrown his way.

It was probably about how he was getting dropped, Mickey was sure of it. He didn’t ever check his book sales, afraid that if he did, he would see how low they were. Did anyone actually even care to hear about some ex Southside thug’s life? Probably not, but his publisher seemed to think so. Either way, Mickey was grateful that he got to write the book. It was very.. therapeutic. Getting to talk about everything he's keep so heavily guarded inside, chained and bolted down into the very back of his brain has made Mickey a generally happier person. Once in a while he sees someone out in public that tells him how incredible his book his and how they really liked that he wrote it because it helped them deal with their own issues, and it was nice to hear.

Weird, but nonetheless pleasurable.

It gave him a sense of ease to find out he wasn't the only one that has lived a shitty life where you had to do things you _really_ didn’t want to do to survive. It was one thing knowing others were out there, it was another to actually hear it first hand.

Mickey entered one of the offices that he's been in many times before and sat himself in one of the chairs placed in front of a mahogany colored desk. It was a pretty professional looking office if you could look past the white, fuzzy chair Mickey was currently in. His publisher had called a last minute meeting and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was just lucky Mickey didn’t have any plans.

"Mickey, thank you for coming in.” Jackie Davis says with stack full of files in her hand as she walks into the room, taking a seat at her desk. “Sorry it was so last minute, I had no choice. Pretty much booked up till next week and had no free time.” She moved the files to one side of her desk before digging into one of her drawers and pulling out an envelope. “I wanted to give you this,” Jackie slides it over across the desk to Mickey, “in person.”

Mickey raised an eyebrow and opened it up, seeing a check for ten thousand dollars inside. “The hell is this for?”

“Your book did well this week. Really well, actually. A bonus is included with this weeks royalties. But, theres something else. I know you said no to interviews because you really didn’t ask for any fame, but more than a dozen outlets are asking for time with you. Even if you only do one single interview, it could bring in more than just that ten grand.”

After the charges of attempted murder and escaping prison were dropped, Mickey had been talked about on the Chicago news, saying how his break out started the process of getting an entirely new staff at that prison and that they would be taking extra steps to ensure another break out didn’t happen. With Mickey’s help, they succeeded. The DA’s office had been skeptical of letting Mickey go free at first, but when he agreed to help them make the prison less susceptible to another break out, they agreed it would be beneficial. He was on parole for the first two years, but was taken off when Mickey had proved that he wouldn’t be an issue for the city of Chicago anymore. Not long after that, he was approached about a one hundred thousand dollar book deal. The one condition he had was that he didn’t want to do any interviews. The idea of going to talk to someone about the things he wrote wasn't worth any amount of money they could offer. He nearly had the book be anonymous or under another name, but he was willing to let that slide.

“Jackie, Ive told you this before. Im not doing any interviews. That stuff was hard enough to write about and Id rather not have to talk about it ever again. I get that people like reading it and they wanna know more, but this ain't some fictional book that I pulled out of my ass — it's my life. People already know enough of it, the rest is known by only the people it concerns; me, my husband, and the people in the book.” Mickey folded up the envelope and shoved it into his pocket. “Im sorry, I know its good for sales and good for you too, but I don’t like the attention. Im fine with the ways things are.”

Jackie leaned back in her seat and sighed with a nod, “Alright, I understand. If you ever change your mind, just let me know and we can set something up. You're an inspiration to a lot of people Mickey, it’d be a shame if you never acknowledged it.”

Mickey wiped his bottom lip with his thumb and nodded, “Is that it?”

With a nod from Jackie, Mickey was up out of his seat and leaving the woman behind.

Its not that she was a bitch or anything, Mickey actually quite liked her, she was just pushy even after Mickey said no. It wasn’t the first time she's brought up an interview, but Mickey supposes he can live with it considering he wasn’t being dropped like he originally thought.

If he had, it wasn’t like he would really be that upset. He and his husband, Jose, were doing just fine money wise. They had saved up the funds from the book and more than plenty to keep them going, but the paychecks coming in every week were nice.

Shortly after becoming a free man, Mickey met Jose. He had moved back to Chicago almost immediately after being called a free man, and had gone out for drinks after hours of deliberation — should he call and tell Ian the news? Who was to even say Ian still had the same phone number? Mickey felt pathetic even thinking about Ian when he would bet Ian hadn’t thought about him at all. It had been nearly three years since he last saw Ian and Mickey couldn’t help it that he still thought about the boy. He considered going over to the Gallagher’s house, but he knew it would be better if he didn’t show up out of the blue. He wasn’t even sure if he _wanted_ to see Ian again. Ian clearly knew Mickey was free after the news ran the story and he hadn’t heard from him. He took it as a sign that Ian didn’t want to talk to him.

The bar had been a quiet one up on the Northside, somewhere you go to clear your head after a breakup or getting fired from your job, but for Mickey, it was a place to relax. He was finally a free man and was able to come back home and not have to worry about being seen. He had missed Yevgeny and even Svetlana, but he wasn’t sure if they would even want to see him. Yevgeny probably didn’t even know who he was. Mandy had flipped shit when she told him. She practically _begged_ Mickey to come live with her in New York, but Mickey had wanted to come back to Chicago since he had left for Mexico. He wasn’t leaving any time soon.

Sitting at the bar drinking some rum and coke was what Mickey had intended to do all that night. He wasn't planning on meeting anyone or even making small talk with the bartender, but, like a lot of things in Mickey’s life, that didn’t go as planned.

A beautiful tan skinned man with curly brown hair pulled into a bun had sat down next to him and asked, “Can I buy you a drink?” in a thick Spanish accent and Mickey had nearly forgot about why he was even drinking in the first place.

After hours of talking and intense flirting, Mickey realized something. This was his chance to completely start over. He had just met someone for the first time since Ian, and he was okay with it. Mickey had sincerely thought that he wouldn’t be able to move on from Ian, but there he was; laughing over alcoholic beverages and sharing a mini pizza with an attractive man, wondering if he would be able to see him again.

He did. They ended up exchanging phone numbers and met up a few nights later for coffee. Jose had his hair down that morning and Mickey just really couldn’t stop staring. He had the most prominent cheekbones Mickey had ever seen and he was so full of light and goodness, something Mickey was almost afraid of.

He felt someone as pure and beautiful as Jose was too good for him. He didn’t deserve someone with a past like Mickey, especially someone that used to be a fugitive on the run.

It took a few months, but Mickey had confessed to Jose about his life in Mexico and why he was even in prison in the first place.

“So.. you went to prison for your boyfriend?”

“Ex-boyfriend, yeah.”

Jose smiled a bit and leaned in to kiss Mickey, nearly sitting on top of him on the boys couch, “You don’t ever have to do that for me.”

It wasn’t that Mickey even felt like he _had_ to do it for Ian at the time. He wanted to. That’s just how he was. He loved intensely and would burn himself just to make sure the person he loved didn’t have to.

Eventually he and Jose became serious. They moved in together up North a few months after becoming exclusive and Mickey met his family a few months after that. Jose had explained that his parents were a bit more protective than he would like to admit. But, Mickey found out that it was only because they adopted Jose after finding out they couldn't have children of their own. It was a ‘good’ parenting thing, he guesses.

Jose learned about Yevgeny not long after Mickey went to see him again for the first time. Mickey had just gotten off of work at a car garage by their house when he decided to take a chance and call The Alibi. Veronica had picked up and, for a moment, Mickey didn’t say anything. He knew she would tell Fiona he was back in town and that Fiona would tell Ian. His ex hadn’t tried to contact him, and Mickey had himself convinced that it was fine, so what was the point of Ian knowing he was back?

“Hello?” Veronica repeated in his ear.

“Uh, hey, its Mickey.”

“Mickey?” Veronica questioned, furrowing her eyebrows and causing a shuffling noise as she took the phone and went into the back room.

“Yeah, I was wondering if you might know how I can get ahold of Svetlana? She still hang out there?”

Veronica snickered and sighed, “Yeah, I know how to get ahold of that lying ass Russian. She works here.”

Mickey raised an eyebrow and wondered what she meant about ‘lying ass’, but decided he didn’t really care right then. He just wanted to see Yevgeny.

“Well, can you put her on?”

A clinking sound was made and after a few moments of silence, he heard it again, “Mickey? You are back?”  
Mickey smiled to himself, “Svetlana, hey. Yeah, Im back. I wanna see Yevgeny, if that’s okay?”

“Of course it is okay, you are father. We move out of old house, now a few blocks away. Where are you staying at?”

"I, uh, live up North with my boyfriend, Jose.”

Silence rang through the telephone for a minute or two until Svetlana hummed, “How long have you been back?”

“Few months. Was gonna come see the kid, but.. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see me. Or if you maybe remarried and had the kid adopted or something.”

Svetlana sighed into the receiver, shaking her head, “You are piece of shit father, but you are father. Come see Yevgeny. I will send you address.”

"Thanks,” Mickey rolled his eyes, “Can you ask Veronica to not let anyone know Im back?”

"Orange boy? Will let her know.”

They exchanged cell phone numbers and when Svetlana sent him directions a few minutes after hanging up, Mickey shot a text to Jose to tell him he would be late and made his way over.

Yevgeny had gotten big. Really big. But, that’s what happens when you don’t see your kid for nearly four years.

“Yevgeny, do you know who this is?” Svetlana asked the blonde child as they stood in the living room, Yevgeny doing his homework at the coffee table.

The kid looked up and squinted at Mickey before looking over to the bookshelf by the door where a photo of Mickey stood in a frame. “Daddy?” Yevgeny asked, looking to Svetlana for an answer. She had taken off early from work to meet Mickey over at the house, letting the babysitter go home early as well.

"Daddy." Svetlana confirmed.

Mickey’s eyes welled up with tears as Yevgeny ran over to hug his legs.

He told Jose about Yevgeny that night. He didn’t go into detail about his conception, just said that it wasn't his choice, but he loved the kid and that if Jose couldn’t handle it then their relationship wasn’t gonna work out.

But, as Mickey should've known, Jose was fine with it. He didn’t push for details and he didn’t pester Mickey about not telling him sooner. Jose knew all about Mickey’s fugitive years and knew it must've been hard seeing his son again for the first time so he just ran a bubble bath for the two of them to relax in.

After they had been together for two years, he and Jose finally tied the knot. Yevgeny and Svetlana had helped plan the whole thing and were even in their family picture they had taken after the ceremony. Mandy, Iggy, Joey, and Colin had shown up as well, taking part in the photo sessions. Mandy held up Yevgeny next to Jose and they both kissed the eight year old on the cheek, Mickey and Svetlana laughing off to the side while Mickey’s brothers made gang signs in the front of the photo. That one was Mickey’s favorite so inevitably it was hung up in their entry way in front of the door, making it the first thing people saw when they walked into his and Jose’s house.

A few weeks after the wedding was when Mickey was given the book offer. He talked it over with Jose, Mandy, his brothers, Svetlana, and even Kev. He was reluctant to talk to Kev about it after the comment he made at Mickey’s wedding, though.

_“Always thought it’d be your wedding with Ian that I’d go to, not another dude, but Im happy for you man.”_

Jose didn’t like it too much.

All of them agreed that a book would be a good idea and eventually Mickey did too.

It took Mickey maybe six months because he wanted to be sure everything in the book was explained and detailed. At first he had regretted signing on to write his life story, but he had began to see it as a way to talk about everything he's gone through without actually having to say it.

The hardest to write about was his relationship with Ian. Jose had assured him that he didn’t have to leave anything out and no matter what Mickey wrote about when it came to Ian, that it wouldn’t affect their relationship whatsoever. That made Mickey become a waterfall of words one night. He stayed up writing till the early hours of morning and he still wasn’t done.

Talked about everything from how he was afraid to like Ian and how he was afraid their ‘relationship’ would become public to the day Svetlana was introduced into his life to Ian’s diagnosis. Even included their time on the road before Ian had left him at the border. Of course he kept Ian’s name out of it, but Ian and a lot of people would definitely know who he was talking about.

“You changed Ian’s name to Clayton? Why?” Jackie had asked when she skimmed through the book.

It was privacy. A lot of shit went down between them and he didn’t figure he’d be too happy if it were Ian writing the book and using his real name either. It was only the decent thing to do.

After the book was released, shit changed.

He and Jose moved into a bigger house, one where Yevgeny got his own room and they had two bathrooms instead of one. They even got a new car, which was something Mickey never thought he would ever have. Out of the money he got for the deal, he gave Svetlana some to move out of the Southside. Her and Yevgeny were now up North near Mickey and Jose. His brothers used a little bit of it to help fix up the old Milkovich house where they were living and Mandy only wanted a designer bag since she was doing fine with money. While in school, she was an assistant to some up coming designer and making a pretty good penny.

Not only that, but Ian had to know Mickey was back in Chicago now. The back of the book told a little bit about Mickey and stated he lived in Chicago currently. He kept the ‘with his husband’ part from being printed, though. Told himself it was because it was nobody’s business, but deep down he knew it was because he didn’t want Ian finding out that way.

  
His book, _Memoirs of a Milkovich_ , ended up being a New York Times best seller and although he was making a decent dime nowadays, Mickey and Jose agreed to not live an outrageous lifestyle. Jose even continued his job at the bank to keep things a bit normal. Mickey usually spent his days helping out Svetlana around the house with Yevgeny, or hanging out and buying him shit, or over at his brothers’ house.

He supposed that's where the bonus came from. Being on the New York Times best seller list definitely gave books a bigger audience. But, hey, Mickey wasn’t gonna complain about a ten thousand dollar check in his pocket. His favorite part about having money now was that he was able to give Yevgeny things he never got. On his ninth birthday, Mickey bought him two bikes. Just because he could.

“Hey, babe, Im leaving Jackie’s office right now. Wanted to ask about another interview, but I told her no again. She gave me another check so Im gonna go deposit it then I'll go pick up dinner. Svetlana’s coming over with Yev so if I'm not back by the time they get there, just tell them ill be there soon. Love you.” Mickey left a message on Jose’s answering machine as he got into his car, placing his coffee in the cup holder and starting the engine. It had only been two months since the book was released, but Mickey still felt so fucking glad every time he started his car. No more walking or taking the el everywhere.

Mickey drove over to the direct deposit atm a few blocks over and inserted the check, letting the machine do all the work and transfer the money into his banking account before pulling out of the parking lot and making his way towards Burger King. It wasn’t Jose’s favorite, but it was Mickey’s so if his husband wanted any action tonight, he was gonna eat his food without a fight or he can suck his own dick.

**

"Are you not gonna come inside?” Svetlana asked Mickey as she got out of the car at The Alibi. Her car was in the shop currently so she needed to grab a ride from Mickey, but before they had arrived, she noticed Mickey acting strange. He was fidgety and nervous.

“What? No, Im gonna wait here for you.” Mickey shook his head, running his palms over the steering wheel then firmly gripping onto it.

Svetlana shifted her balance from one foot to the other and rolled her eyes, “Ian does not come here, Mickey. That’s what you're worried about, yes?”

Mickey didn’t say anything. How dare she be absolutely right.

“He wont be here, I can promise it. Come inside, we can have a drink while I get my money.”

Hesitant, Mickey shut the car off and slowly followed her inside. He hadn’t been in there since he’s been back, even after Kev had invited him over to watch the game one weekend. Mickey just really didn’t want to run into any of the Gallagher’s.

  
The Alibi looked the same. Mickey could literally see the night he came out playing in his head; his father coming at him to definitely try to kill him, jumping over tables and chairs being broken onto bodies, screaming and cussing and police officers, everything. It was a night Mickey would never forget, his entire life changed right in this bar all those years ago.

"Mickey! Good to see you, man, have a seat. I'll buy you a beer.” Kev said from behind the counter as Mickey grinned, feeling a bit more relaxed. Ian clearly wasn’t there so perhaps he had been nervous over nothing. Only thing he didn’t like about coming back to the bar was all the memories of the specific person he was trying to avoid.

But that’s all they were.

Memories.

“Hows Jose doin’? Should’ve came with you.” Veronica smiled over her shoulder at him from the register, grabbing out Svetlana’s money.

Mickey chuckled, shaking his head, “He’s with Yevgeny, wanted to take him out to see a movie. He’s good though.” He gave a little smile, taking a sip of the beer Kev handed him.

“Yeah?” Kev raised an eyebrow, giving Mickey a weird look, but didn’t say anything else.

Mickey awkwardly looked around the bar once again, seeing it was pretty crowded. He didn’t recognize anyone and it seemed pretty off to him.

“Frank not come in here anymore? Old fucker finally stop drinking?”

Veronica leaned against the counter and shook her head, “Died a few years ago — Monica, too.”

Mickey sat the glass of alcohol back down, mouth parted a bit. Shit. Both of Ian’s parents died and he had no idea. Wasn’t his place to comfort him anymore, but Mickey still felt like shit. Even though Terry was a complete psychotic asshole, Mickey would still be _kinda_ upset if he died. It was his dad. He knew how much Ian loved his mom even though she wasn't exactly the best, too, and that made Mickey want to go straight over to the Gallagher house, but he wasn’t going to.

That wasn’t his job anymore. Ian wasn’t apart of his life, and hasn’t been for a long time. That part of his life was over and Mickey needed to keep it that way.

He sighed and ran a thumb over his lip before tossing up his glass again and drinking down the rest in one gulp.

“So, uh,” Kev began, trying his best to look casual, “Have you seen Ian since you been back? Hasn’t said anything, so I was just… you know.”

With a slight eye roll, Mickey shook his head, “Nah, not interested in seeing him, anyway. Been six years, not exactly a little bitch for him anymore.”

“Right, I read your book. Forgot it said he left you at the border. That’s cold, man.” Kev chuckled a little, going over to the glasses and getting a customer a beer on tap. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think Ian’s read it.”

“And why would that make me feel any better? What do I care if he’s read the book? He knows what all fuckin’ happened.”

"Yeah, but its your book. You don’t care at all?”

Mickey got up and pulled his wallet out, tossing down a twenty. “Keep the change.” He looked over at Svetlana and nodded towards the door to leave.

“You have drink, I drive now.” She held out her hand when Mickey tried to get in the driver seat, but eventually complied. She was right, he had a family to think of and couldn’t be driving even if he only had one drink.

“Are you okay?” Svetlana questioned after a few minutes into the drive when all Mickey did was stare out of the window.

"Yeah, just fuckin’ annoyed. Seems like every time I see Kev and V, they bring up Ian. Im fuckin’ married, do they really think I wanna talk about my asshole ex?” Mickey scoffed, flopping in his seat to face her. “Dunno what everyone's fixation is with me and Ian, still. Been over for a long ass time and Ive moved on, now everyone else needs to. Just a big ol’ load of bullshit that everyone thinks I care what the hell Ian’s up to.”

She glanced over at Mickey and raised an eyebrow. Although they met in a terrible way, Svetlana had always been able to see right through Mickey and, no matter how hard he tried to suppress his emotions, Mickey was like an open book to her. It was how she knew Mickey loved Ian before he even knew.

“Load of bullshit, yes?” Svetlana chuckled, “Something here is bullshit, I agree.”

Clenching his jaw slightly, Mickey glanced up from where he was staring at his fingers and opened his mouth to say something to her, but ended up just looking out of the window again.

 

 


End file.
